Clinton (12-16) drew a technical from Kevin Steen in the first quarter that pulled the Dragons within 19-12 at the end of the first quarter but cooler heads prevailed.

“It’s every year we get up 10-20 points and Clinton always tries to get into our skin,” junior post Isaac Merian said. “The rivalry is huge, and I love it.

“And we are going to the championship.”

The Wildcats were able to spread the ball around to 10 different players who scored on the night and jump out to a 38-25 lead at halftime.

“They were trying to clog the lane and take away Isaac and those guys inside,” Green said. “They played a lot of defenses. They played triangle-and-two, zone, sagging man. So the paint had a lot of traffic in it.”

That lead was extended by a 7-0 run in the third and any hopes of a seventh straight win for the streaking Dragons was snuffed out.

Merian finished with 11 points despite the strong inside play from Clinton. Jaylin Henderson led all scorers with 20 points. Cory Fagan had 13 and Rian Hall had nine.

Jacob Williamson had 18 points to lead Clinton after scoring just nine in the Jan. 11 meeting between the two teams. Steven Antonelli and Tyler Duncan chipped in 10 points each.

Oak Ridge will get its third chance to beat Powell Tuesday in the District 3-AAA championship at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers defeated their rival, Halls, on a last second tap in by Clay Payne to win 44-42.

Page 2 of 2 - “I am ready to play Powell,” Merian said.

Both the Oak Ridge and Powell boys will host in the first round of the Region 2-AAA tournament. The first round will be Saturday. The Oak Ridge girls will play Friday on the road in the first round. No times have been set for either night.